The little boy, Tommy, reminds me of Calvin
from the 'Calvin and Hobbs' comic strip by Bill Watterson because of his mischievousness. It is such a
fun book to read! My children look forward to story time to hear the next chapter each day.- Celese Sanders (Syndicated Columnist)

Meet six-year-old Tommy Johnson, Super Cowboy and Super Story-teller. Want
to build a box to capture wild cats that roam the farm? How about tips on catching a greased pig at the
fair, or teaching a stubborn lamb to avoid being trampled by angry milk cows? From the first paragraph,
when Tommy explains why a boy needs a dog for a pet instead of a cat, he wins us over with his
down-to-earth and humorous view of the world. Once Tommy begins school, however, things get complicated.
He gets picked on by teachers and mocked by classmates. And then tragedy strikes. In the process of
dealing with his grief, Tommy learns the meaning of true friendship.

In this new book in the Under Open Skies series, Tom Johnson is in his
early 20's and struggling to make it through college and take care of his little family. Due to the
stress created by the overload of class work, the challenges of having very little money, and the limited
amount of time for his family, he often feels trapped by his circumstances.
To try to earn some extra money to help out with his family income, he
procures a job taking care of horses. When the lady he works for buys a famous old race horse, Tom
starts to see the world and his situation somewhat differently. In sensing the old stallion's trust in
him, learning from friends and those around him, Tom begins to realize that prisons can be made as much
from our attitudes and decisions as they can be from cement and steel, and that challenges can be good.
That is when he begins to understand what true freedom really is.

School is out, and Tommy Johnson is back in trouble again as his antics cause
one disaster after another. He is assigned to work with his tough-as-nails grandmother so she can keep an eye on him, but trouble finds
him wherever he goes. And Grandma isn't immune from causing a little bit of havoc herself.
But when Tommy becomes friends with the neighbor Grandma has a grudge against, he learns the importance of
not letting little things destroy wonderful friendships.

It was to be the big day for Eli. His fiancee, Molly, was coming in on a
ship. Two years earlier, unable to find work in England, he had headed for America. His ship was caught
in a storm, and he ended up, not in Pennsylvania as he planned, but in Newfoundland.
But that was all behind him now. He had written to Molly every day for the
two years, and now she was coming so they could be married.
But Eli was in for a surprise. Unknown to him, Molly had married. She had
bought him a mail-order bride, and Eli's life was going to suddenly take an unexpected twist.
This is a fun story about differences of culture, love, and life. The play
based on this book is winner of many awards and has been produced internationally. This is a story you
won't want to miss.

When he is called before the queen, Jacob, the handsome, young Captain
of the Royal Guard, is sure it is to discuss the baffling increase in assassination attempts against
the royal family. Instead, the queen assigns the shocked young captain to tutor her out-of-control,
tomboy daughter, Marie.
He knows all of the other tutors have failed miserably, and he tries to
beg out of it, but the queen will not relent. However, she does give him leave to use any teaching method
he likes. Her ultimate command is that she be trained as a lady in preparation for her royal ball.
Angry and humiliated at what he feels is a degrading and impossible
assignment, especially for a military captain, he determines to train the princess like he would one of
his guardsmen. He will demand strong discipline, tough academics, and sword combat training. He is sure
that his rigorous approach will push the princess to complain to her mother, who will then remove him from the assignment.
But to his surprise, Marie instead responds positively to the harsh
discipline, and becomes a princess like no other.
And, when they come under attack, her training might be just enough to save
both of their lives as they work to unravel who is behind the assassination attempts, and also try to
solve the mystery of why the Lord High Chamberlain is such a great sword fighter.

When Rachel married, her life became a nightmare filled
with abuse from her husband and a struggle to take care of her children. Now divorced, her exhusband still
haunts her life with threats and demands for the little money she has. But when a stranger stands up for her
against the abuse, her life begins to change in ways she could only dream of as she finds new courage, strength,
and different, deeper challenges at the same time. The Last Gift is a book of clean romance, a journey of understanding
and forgiveness, and a story that, at times, might bite painfully into the reader's own memories of missed opportunities
and foolish decisions, while at the same time giving hope from the depths of what life is all about.

Three young men are convicted of mugging little children for their Halloween candy.
Instead of sentencing them to jail as is expected the judge sentences them to 100 hours babysitting at the Women's Crisis center.
They were prepared for jail but they were not prepared for what lies in store for them as the children become part of their lives.

52 humorous and inspirational short stories, one for each week of the year. These stories are taken
from the popular column, Life's Outtakes. From the inspiration of a father's love for his daughter in Tinkertoys In The
Cupboard to the humor of a want-to-be athlete in The Nose Warmer, these 52 humorous and inspirational short stories
(one for each week of the year) will make you laugh, reminisce, and contemplate the relationships you cherish most.
/n

52 humorous and inspirational short stories, one for each week of the year. These stories are taken from the popular column,
Life's Outtakes. From the All's Well, a story of a community pulling together to help a family in need, to the humor
of a practical joke gone awry in The April Fool's Joke these stories will keep you laughing or help you think more deeply
about what matters most./n

52 stories, one for each week, from third year of the popular story column Life's Outtakes. These stories are a humorous
and inspirational view of community and family life. From the inspiration of an athletes understanding of others in
Those Who Make Us What We Are to the humor of young man's failed attempt at dating in The Mixed Up World Of Dating
these stories will keep you laughing and make you think about what is really important in life./n

From the inspiration of a Christmas miracle in Nothing But A Miracle to the humor of A Journal Of A Gardener At
Harvest Time, these 52 humorous and inspirational short stories (one for each week of the year), taken from the fourth year of the
popular story column Life's Outtakes will make you laugh, reminisce, and contemplate the relationships you cherish most./n

From the inspiration of a dying soldier's wish of Singing To The End Of Life to the humor of Football Through The Eyes Of
A Child, these 52 humorous and inspirational short stories (one for each week of the year), taken from the fourth year of the
popular story column Life's Outtakes will make you laugh, reminisce, and contemplate the relationships you cherish most./n

52 humorous and inspirational short stories from year six of Life's Outtakes, a nationally syndicated column by Daris
Howard. From the humor of a girl's wrath in A Practical Joke Gone Awry to the touching reminder of those who are less fortunate
in The Year I Lived Christmas, this is a fun look at family and community life./n

52 humorous and inspirational short stories from year seven of Life's Outtakes, a nationally syndicated column by
Daris Howard. From the humor of a what students write in Student Communications to the wonderment of a child in need of a
friend in Angels Among Us, this is a fun look at family and community life./n

52 humorous and inspirational short stories from year seven of Life's Outtakes, a nationally syndicated column by
Daris Howard. From the inspiration of a World War II soldier's compassion in Forgiveness to the humor of numerous car problems
in Crossed Wires these 52 humorous and inspirational short stories (one for each week of the year) will make you laugh,
reminisce, and contemplate the relationships you cherish most./n

Three roommates play a joke on a fourth roommate, Sherrie. She is shy so they set her up with a nonexistent guy whom they make up with all of the characteristics that they think will make Sherrie willing to go out with him.
The problem occurs when a young man, Carl, staggers in after beeing beaten and mugged an can't remember who he is. Sherri thinks he is her date and tells him all about himself from what her roommates have told her.
Carl starts living this life while the roommates start trying to search out who he really is.

In this adaption of the story by Charles Dickens, the playwright has used his skills as a playwright, as well researching both the time period and the life of Dickens, to bring an understanding of who Scrooge was, why he was the way he was, and what Dickens was trying to share in this story. For example, the phrase 'humbug', often used by Scrooge, in our modern language would be close to the word 'scam'. It appears likely that Dickens, through the eyes of Scrooge, was expressing, as many do today, that Christmas is too commercialized.
Through this adaption, hopefully the audience will find themselves understanding the world of Dickens more as well as his religious feelings about what Christmas is really all about.

Shauna Smith and her two daughters, Susan and Sally, along with Susan's fiance, Tom,
find themselves in a small town for Memorial Day weekend when their car breaks down.
It turns out to not be just any town but the town where Shauna's husband, Richard, grew up, though
none of them have been there before.
It seems too much of a coincidence to have just happened. The old man, Ben, seems to know them as well.
Susan and Sally also find a picture of him in history book about the town and believe he is the ghost of
their great-grandfather, Ben, who had died many years ealier. Why does he want them there?
The people of the town add humor by just being their ordinary selves. Soon everyone begins to love the
town. They soon realize that the town needs them and they begin to love the simpler life.
The ending has some interesting twists as Richard shows up. He thought he had planned the whole thing, but
soon finds out perhaps he was just part of a plan by Ben.
For a real fun, community play, this is one you will want to do.

Shauna Smith and her two daughters, Susan and Sally, along with Susan's fiance, Tom,
find themselves in a small town for Memorial Day weekend when their car breaks down.
It turns out to not be just any town but the town where Shauna's husband, Richard, grew up, though
none of them have been there before.
It seems too much of a coincidence to have just happened. The old man, Ben, seems to know them as well.
Susan and Sally also find a picture of him in history book about the town and believe he is the ghost of
their great-grandfather, Ben, who had died many years ealier. Why does he want them there?
The people of the town add humor by just being their ordinary selves. Soon everyone begins to love the
town. They soon realize that the town needs them and they begin to love the simpler life.
The ending has some interesting twists as Richard shows up. He thought he had planned the whole thing, but
soon finds out perhaps he was just part of a plan by Ben.
For a real fun, community play, this is one you will want to do.

This is the sequel to The Mail-Order Bride but can stand on its own. It is set about six years later. Now Anya and Eli are married and have two little girls and are expecting a third child. The oldest girl, Eliana, whi is about six, is a vibrant young lady that follows Jim, the crotchety old man, around and has learned to talk and act like him.
It is into this that Anya's father and mother come. Anya's fther is the one that sold her as a mail-order bride and Anya has some bad feelings toward him. Anya's father, Ivan, is not used to a culture where women are anything more than property. He has a lot to learn about others and about himself as Anya has a lot to learn about forgiving.
This is a delightful tale of caring, compassion, and humor as two cultures and feelings come to grasp with one another.

Andrew Sineaman is being honored by his country, Austria, for his courage in saving the lives of many people during Germany's occupation of the country. However, he feels he does not deserve this honor. The reason he doesn't is because he feels his life was purchased by someone else.
When he was younger he, along with his three friends, were rebellious and troublemakers. But his curiosity, about an old pocket watch that has a bullet hole in it, makes him look deeper into the life of an old man, Torrance Edleton.
Torrance lives only to serve others and Andrew, trying to learn the story of the pocket watch, starts working with him. The service Andrew renders starts to change his life. He learns that Torrance lives his life the way he does because he feels he owes a major debt for mistakes in his past.
When Andrew and his friends face death from the Germans for the destruction of a power plant, Torrance takes the blame, saving their lives. In so doing, he helps Andrew understand that our lives are really a gift from God and others who have paid a price for us.

Charlie, the old janitor, has accidentally created a potion that will hypnotize people. Stu, the hero, must stop the villain before he can hypnotize the heroine and get her to marry him and steal her father's fortune.
Marm, the tough old mistress of the girls dorm who hates men, is also determined to put a stop to the villain's plans.
You won't want to miss this fun melodrama that will be great for the whole family.

Lilacs in the Valley will take your audience through a fun, humorous, but touching story, based loosely on the lives of a pioneer family, and especially on the life of a young man named Alma Hale. Alma is part of a wagon company heading west. He has a close
knit family, and Alma, himself, is a bit of a prankster. In this story, Alma especially enjoys playing tricks on
his Uncle Henry who is 35 years old and still single.
Heading west they face the challenges and enjoy the humor of western
life. When Alma's sister, Emily, dies, Alma faces the greatest challenge of his life. The musical deals with Alma's struggle to understand about love and loss.
Uncle Henry thinks Alma needs some spice put back in his life. He fills Alma's bedroll with snakes and lizards. When Alma finds out who did it he and his teenage buddies decide to play the greatest trick of all
on Henry. They snooker him into marrying the big bossy woman, Gertrude, whom Henry is trying to avoid.
Old Uncle Henry learns to love someone and in turn teaches Alma about love and life.

The evil Bartholomew Blackburn and his sister Priscilla have tricked the Mr.
Giving into mortgaging the deed to his ranch for an old cave that is supposed to be full of treasure. Now
that Mr. Giving has died the mortgage falls to Mr. Giving's daughter Misty.

Everyone wonders why the good hearted cowhand, Hannible wants to buy the worthless
cave and later a worthless cow. But Hannible has a plan to get the ranch back. His plans change slightly
when he find out that Bartholomew and Priscilla tricked Mr. Giving by giving him a love potion.

Hannible's plans work out a little different than expected when the ornery, drunk
cowhand, Charlie, accidentally gets hold of some of the love potion and falls in love with Priscilla
whom he despises.

All works out in the end as the hero saves the ranch and gets the heroine.
All this plus Charlie's not too sharp side kick Tom, and the old foreign cook Louise,
make this a fun melodrama.

Eli Whittier was on his way to Pennsylvania to join the Quakers when his ship got in a storm and he ended up in Newfoundland. He has worked two years to bring over his fiance', while he has become the defacto town preacher. Unknown to him, his fiance' has married and sends in her place a mail-order bride. And that's where the fun begins.
From the author and composer of Lilacs in the Valley comes a delightful tale of caring, compassion, and humor as two people try to face the differences of culture and new beginnings, and the town folk learn not to jump to conclusions.

The minute Marina's husband found out she was pregnant, he left her. She ended up saddled with his credit card debt, and she struggled for years to pay it off. She has despised and distrusted men ever since.
But she is a savvy businesswoman. She started a new temp agency business and has worked hard to make it successful. However, she still struggles to control her disgust with men, especially married men who flirt with her.
But the day that Jason came in and outright asked if she could find a woman he could rent as a wife, her disgust exploded, and she threw him out. But when her car wouldn't start, and she needed help, Jason kindly came to her aid.
As she reluctantly gets to know him, she begins to understand that things aren't always what they appear at first glance.

Fun segments you might enjoy doing for a reading or workshop. Read them online before ordering to see if they will work for you. For education or similar uses they are free of royalty, but you still need to fill out a permission form.

Anyone who is anyone in Rocklandia is part of a band. But the queen, from a foreign country, can't sing. She dreams of a baby that will have a beautiful voice. Her baby, Susan, whom everyone calls Snow White, is born with a beautiful voice.
But the queen dies, and the new queen doesn't like anyone singing better than she does. This causes problems for Snow White. She tries to talk to her father, but he is too distracted with the wars between his country and those of Jazzland, Operaland, Bluesland, and others.
When the magic mirror informs the queen that Snow White sings better, she decides to have her agent, Mr. Huntsman, trick her into drinking something that will destroy her voice.
Mr. Huntsman can not do it, and she ends up living with the seven dwarves, who have their own rock band and are in need of a female vocalist.
When the queen tries to destroy Snow White's voice on her own, the tables are turned so that everyone can sing happily ever after.

Santa's elves and reindeer are all getting more and more into technology, but Santa isn't. He doesn't understand why he isn't getting letters anymore, but finds out his gmail account that he never looks at is packed. His head elf tries to help, but Santa is not sure technology is the full answer.

But Santa's elves and reindeer begin to find out that technology also has its downside when everyone forgets to talk and only text.

If you want a fun mini musical for a classroom, this one is great. It will make everyone laugh and teaches a good lesson at the same time.

Justin, Tom, and Sam are convicted of stealing children's Halloween candy at halloween. Seeing they think going to jail is no big deal the judge assigns them 100 hours each baby sitting at the women's crisis center, removing their driver's licenses until it is completed to force them to do it.
They soon find themselves loving the children they care for. They learn how much when they each have to sacrifice what means the most to them to save their new little friend.

The heroine's father has died leaving an intriguing will. He left to his daughet his fortune, but no none knows where or what it is. The hero and his friends, Beaker and Cahrlie, have got to find it before the villain and his cohort.
Beaker, the friend of the hero, has created a truth potion. The villain wants to use it against the hero in a debate as they run against each other for mayor, but as usual the tables are turned.
The fun comes from learning that sometimes even true things are better left unsaid.
This is a real fun melodrama.

The Jensens and the Flanovins had been feuding families for as long as anyone could remember. The Jensens were rich and owned almost everything. The Flanovins were poor and hard working.
Janna Jensen was not only rich but snobby. Mildred Flanovin Parkinson was poor but kind hearted. Janna's father always seemed to have a soft spot in his heart for Mildred and helped pay for her schooling and many other things. This just made Janna hate her more.
Janna can't wait until her father dies and leaves her everything so she will run the town and put some people in their place. But when Mr. Jensen dies the town is in for a big surprise.